Europe warned against Afghans forced deportation

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan would not allow to land on its airports airplanes carrying Afghan migrants from European countries in case they were subjected to forced deportation, the foreign minister warned on Wednesday.

“We have asked all European countries not to deport Afghan women who have no one in their families to support them, disabled persons and those whose areas are insecure and whose family members had already granted citizenship of the host countries,” Salahuddin Rabbani told the Wolesi Jirga or lower house of parliament.

He said they were working on memoranda of understanding with Germany and the European Union council under which Afghans would not be expelled by force, he said, adding 1700 Afghans had so far been referred to the Afghanistan Embassy in Germany for voluntarily returning to their country.

He said bodies of 124 Afghan asylum seekers who died on their way to Europe had been brought home.

Refugee and Repatriation Minister Syed Hussain Alami Balkhi said some European countries wanted to forcibly deport 40 percent of Afghans, but they prevented the move with their efforts.

According to Balkhi, 7,234,531 Afghans are living in some regional, European countries and the US.

Nearly three million Afghan refugees live in Pakistan, over 2.4 million in Iran and 600,000 in others countries and 390,000 in Europe.

Balkhi said they had so far held almost 50 meetings with representatives of European countries on prevention of forced deportation of the Afghans and the meetings bore positive results.